Panel display apparatus



Dec. 14, 1965 sw 3,222,807

PANEL DISPLAY APPARATUS Filed June 22, 1962 3 Sheets-Sheet l H H [l [1 IINVENTOR. j .I RICHARD E. SWANK )5 My BY MmJMfl/Zb/ w AT TO RNEYS Dec.14, 1965 R. E. SWANK PANEL DISPLAY APPARATUS m ma 3 Sheet -Sheet FiledJune 22, 1962 INVENTOR. RICHARD Ev SWANK ATTORNEYS Dec. 14, 1965 R. E.SWANK PANEL DISPLAY APPARATUS 3 Sheets-Sheet 15 Filed June 22, 1962 H4276 75 74 XI INVENTOR. RICHARD E. SWANK 96 XII a/ndlwq 5MWZ- jig /ZATTORNEYS nited States Patent 3,222,807 PANEL DISPLAY APPARATUS RichardE. Swank, Battle (Ii-eels, Mich. (12520 Pacific Ave, Los Angeles,Calif.) Filed June 22, I962, Ser. No. 204,530 4 Claims. (Cl. 436) Thisinvention relates in general to an apparatus for supporting a pluralityof articles, such as substantially parallel panels, and for moving saidpanels endwise in substantially horizontal directions into and out ofdisplay positions which are substantially parallel and superimposed.

The need for and advantages of an inexpensive apparatus forreciprocating a plurality of articles between spaced horizontalpositions have long been recognized. For example, it is well known thatmoving displays or messages, even though repetitive, are far moreeffective than motionless displays, even where the motionless displaysare more artistic, more expensive and more carefully prepared. As aresult, many attempts have been made in the past to provide apparatus bywhich panels, each containing a message or image, are introducedsuccessively into a display zone. Existing structures of this type aredisclosed in my Patents No. 2,707,345, No. 2,839,856 and No. 2,995,846.These patents also set forth in considerable detail the advantages ofmoving display panels and at least some of the problems which have beenencountered heretofore in the development of an apparatus for effectingsuch movement.

In a continuing effort to improve upon, and reduce the cost of card orpanel display apparatuses, it was dis covered that many types ofmechanisms have been developed to effect the movement of panels.However, most of these mechanisms are not in use, apparently becausethey are too complicated, too erratic in operation, and/ or tooexpensive to manufacture, particularly in view of the services for whichcard display apparatuses are designed.

Accordingly, a primary object of this invention has been the provisionof an apparatus having a simplified and inexpensive mechanism foreffecting movement of a plurality of articles into and out of selected,adjacent positions, said mechanism being at least as effective,efficient and reliable in operation as existing mechanisms used for thesame or similar purposes, and being less expensive and less complicatedthan most of said existing mechanisms.

A further object of this invention has been the provision of a displayapparatus, as aforesaid, which is capable of either indoor or outdooruse, and is equally adaptable for relatively large installations orrelatively small installations, so that said apparatus can be used inconjunction with either large or small panels.

A further object of this invention has been the provision of a displayapparatus, as aforesaid, which is capable of holding the panel for asubstantial and adjustable period of time in the display position, whichpermits changes in the duration of such display period, which permitsvariations in the sequence and speed of movement of the panels into andout of their display positions, and which can be adapted for use with awide range of different quantities and sizes of panels.

A further object of this invention has been the provision of a carddisplay apparatus, as aforesaid, which is pleasing in appearance, whichcan be compact in size, which requires very little more room than theactual space required for the housing and movement of the panels, andwhich can be produced according to production procedures by relativelyunskilled workmen.

Other objects and purposes of this invention will become apparent topersons familiar with this type of 3,222,807 Patented Dec. 14, 1965equipment upon reading the following descriptive material and examiningthe accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a display apparatus embodying theinvention.

FIGURE 2 is a sectional view substantially as taken along the line II-IIin FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 3 is a sectional view taken along the line III-III in FIGURE 2.

FIGURE 4 is a broken fragment of a sectional view taken along the lineIV1V in FIGURE 2.

FIGURE 5 is a broken fragment of a sectional view taken along the lineVV in FIGURE 2.

FIGURE 6 is a broken sectional view taken along the line VI-VI in FIGURE3.

FIGURE 7 is a sectional view taken along the line VII-VII in FIGURE 3.

FIGURE 8 is a sectional view similar to that shown in FIGURE 7 with theparts thereof in different positions of operation.

FIGURE 9 is a sectional view as taken along the line IXIX in FIGURE 8.

FIGURE 10 is a sectional view similar to the sectional view appearing inFIGURE 2, but disclosing an alternate structure.

FIGURE 11 is a sectional view taken along the line XIXI in FIGURE 10.

FIGURE 12 is a sectional view taken along the line XII-XII in FIGURE 11.

FIGURE 13 is a sectional view taken along the line XIIIXIII in FIGURE12.

For convenience in description, the terms upper, lower, front, rear andwords of similar import will have reference to the apparatus embodyingthe invention in its normal position of operation as appearing in FIG-URE 1 which shows the left end, front side and top of the apparatus. Theterms inner, outer and derivatives thereof will have reference to thegeometric center of said apparatus and parts thereof.

General description The objects and purposes of the invention, includingthose set forth above, have been met by providing a panel displayapparatus including a rectangular, elongated housing containing railmeans upon which a plurality of panels or cards can be supported insubstantially parallel and adjacent positions for movement lengthwise ofsaid rails into and out of parallel display positions disposed at oneend of said housing. In this embodiment, the housing has windows onopposite sides thereof adjacent the display positions through which thesides of the panels can be viewed when they are in said displaypositions.

An elongated, endless and flexible element is supported within thehousing and arranged in a plurality of loops which substantiallyencircle the zone containing the panels. Each of said loopssubstantially defines a plane parallel with and adjacent a panel. Theelement is supported upon rotatable means and each loop has a pair ofparallel reaches arranged for movement lengthwise of the said rails bydrive means mounted upon the housing. Releasable and cooperatingengaging means is connected to the element and to a portion of eachpanel adjacent said reaches for effecting movement of said panelslengthwise of the rails.

Detailed construction The card display apparatus (FIGURE 1) which hasbeen selected to illustrate a preferred embodiment of the invention, iscomprised of a substantially rectangular and horizontally elongatedhousing It) having a front wall 11, top wall 12 and left end wall 13.The rear wall 14, bottom wall 15 and right end wall 16 appear in FIGURE2. The top wall 12 is preferably, but not necessarily,

movable with respect to the remainder of the housing in order to providean easy access to the interior of the housing. For this purpose, the topwall 12 may be connected to the rear wall 14 by a hinge 17, so that saidtop wall 12, can be pivoted between the broken and solid line positionsthereof, as appearing in FIGURE 2. The front wall 11 and rear wall 14have aligned windows or openings 18 and 19, respectively, which may becovered by transparent panes or sheets 22 and 23 fabricated from glass,plastic material or the like. The walls of the housing 10 can befabricated from wood, heavy paperboard, sheet metal, plastic materialsor the like.

A plurality, here 5, of upper rails 24 (FIGURE 2) is mounted upon andextend between the end walls 13 and 16 (FIGURE 3). Each upper rail hasabutments 26 and 27 which project upwardly, like the abutment 26appearing in FIGURE 4, near the opposite ends of the rails. Each of thepanels 28 has a pair of upper rollers 31 and 32 which ride upon a rail24 to support the panels 28 in upright, substantially parallelpositions. Lengthwise movement of each panel 28 is limited by engagementof its roller 31 with an abutment 26, and by engagement of its roller 32with an abutment 27.

A plurality of lower parallel rails 33 is mounted upon the bottom wallso that, in this embodiment, they are disposed directly below each oneof the upper rails 24. The lower rails 33 have upwardly extendingabutments 34 and 35, which are preferably disposed directly below theabutments 26 and 27, respectively. A pair of rollers 37 and 38 isrotatably supported upon each panel 28 adjacent the lower edge thereofand directly below the rollers 31 and 32, respectively. The rollers 37and 38 are arranged so that they engage one of the rails 33 when anupper rail 24 is engaged by the rollers 31 and 32 to share in thesupport of the panels.

A pair of upper pulley shafts 41 and 42 is mounted upon and extendbetween the front wall 11 and rear wall 14 adjacent to and slightlyabove the opposite ends of the upper rails 24. That is, the pulley shaft41, which is rotatably supported upon the walls 11 and 14, is disposedbetween the abutments 26 and the end wall 13. The pulley shaft 42, whichis preferably non-rotatable, is disposed between the abutments 27 andthe end wall 16. A plurality of pulleys 43 is secured upon the shaft 41and a plurality of pulleys 44 is rotatably supported upon the pulleyshaft 42, so that one of the pulleys 43 is preferably disposed in radialalignment with one of the pulleys 44 and adjacent one of the upper rails24. As shown in FIGURE 2, the pulleys 43 and 44 may be mounted upon thepulley shafts 41 and 42 so that they tilt slightly for reasons appearinghereinafter.

A pair of lower pulley shafts 46 and 47 (FIGURE 5) extend between andare supported upon the front wall 11 and rear wall 14 near the oppositeends thereof and adjacent the bottom wall 15. The pulley shafts 46 and47 are preferably disposed directly below the pulley shafts 41 and 42,respectively. A plurality of pulleys 48 and 49 is rotatably supportedupon the pulley shafts 46 and 47, respectively, so that the pulleys 48are preferably directly below the pulleys 43, and the pulleys 49 arepreferably directly below the pulleys 44. The pulleys 48 and 49 arepreferably tilted sidewardly with respect to the central axes of theirpulley shafts 46 and 47, respectively.

An elongated, flexible and endless element 52 (FIGURE 2), which may be acable, cord or V-belt, for example, is threaded around the pulleys 43,44, 48 and 49 (FIGURE 5) to provide a plurality of similar loops 53,each of which defines a plane substantially parallel with and adjacentto a panel supported upon a pair of upper and lower rails 24 and 33,respectively. Thus, each of the loops 53 defined by the element 52passes around one each of the pulleys 43, 44, 48 and 49, and the reaches58 of the element 52, which extend between adjacent loops 53, arepreferably located adjacent the left end wall 13 of the housing 10. Thatis, the reaches 58 extend from an upper pulley 43 supporting one loop tothe lower pulley 48 supporting the next adjacent loop. The element 52returns from the last or rear loop 532 to the first or front loop 53a(FIGURE 2) by the span 57 which extends from the rear pulley 43e to thefront lower pulley 48a at the leftward end of the housing.

A pair of guides 54 and 55 (FIGURE 2) are secured respectively to therear wall 14, directly below the rear pulley 43e, and to the front wall11, directly above the front pulley 48a. The guides 54 and 55 arearranged and constructed so that they hold the span 57 of the element 52away from the end reaches 58 which extend between the upper pulleys 43and lower pulleys 48. Also, the guides 54 and 55 help to align theelement 52 as it leaves the upper pulley 43c and as it engages the lowerpulley 48a.

Drive means 61 (FIGURE 2), such as an electric motor, is mounted uponthe rear wall 14 and is directly connected to the pulley shaft 43 forrotating same and thereby effecting a lengthwise movement of the endlesselement 52 around the pulleys supporting same. Obviously, the motor 61could be connected to any one of the pulley shafts 41, 42, 46 and 47,either directly or indirectly through gears or others means.

The pulleys 43, 44, 48 and 49 are disposed so that a panel 28 can belocated between each loop 53 and a pair of upper and lower rails 24 and33, when the rollers of the panel are appropriately engaged with saidrails.

A pair of magnetized members 64 and (FIGURES 7, 8 and 9), which arepreferably wedged-shaped in this particular embodiment, are securelyfastened to the element 52. The members 64 and 65 are designed so thatthey will pass freely around the pulleys 43, 44, 48 and 49.

Each panel 28 has a pair of magnets 66 and 67 secured thereto near theupper and lower edges thereof, respectively, so that they extendadjacent the upper reach 62 and the lower reach 63, respectively, of theadjacent loop 53. The magnets 66 are arranged so that they will attractthe magnetized member 64, which is of negative polarity, and will repelthe magnetized member 65, which is positive in polarity, as said membersmove past the magnets 66. The magnets 67 are arranged so that they willrepel the magnetized member 64 and attract the magnetized member 65.Accordingly, as the element 52 moves around the pulleys 43, 44, 48 and49, in the direction indicated by the arrows M in FIGURES 2 and 3, themagnetized member 64 is attracted to the upper magnets 66 and therebymoves the panels 28 (FIGURE 3) rightwardly into the display position.The magnetized member 65 is attracted to the lower magnets 67 wherebythe panels 28 are moved leftwardly out of the display position. However,the magnetized members 64 and 65 are repelled by the permanent magnet 67and 66, respectively, so that no movement of the panels 28 is effectedwhen a magnetized member 64 passes a magnet 67 or when a magnetizedmember 65 passes a magnet 66.

Operation With the card display apparatus assembled as appearing inFIGURES l, 2 and 3, a plurality of panels 28 are supported upon therails 24 and 33 for movement lengthwise of the housing 10 into and outof their display positions at the rightward end of the housing. When themotor 61 is energized, it rotates the shaft 41 and the pulleys 43secured thereto. Accordingly, the endless element 52, which extendspartially around each of the pulleys 43, is moved in a directionindicated by the arrows M. The motor 61 is selected so that itsrotational speed will produce the desired linear movement of the element52.

As the element 52 (FIGURES 3 and 5) moves around its supporting pulleys43, 44, 48 and 49, the magnetized members 64 and 65 will move, one at atime, past the magnets 66 and 67, which are mounted upon the panels 28.

The magnetized members 64 and 65 will be attracted to some of themagnets 66 and 67 and will be repelled by others, For example, themagnetized member 64 (FIG- URE 3) will be attracted to the magnets 66and, therefore, will successively move each panel 28 from the leftwardend of the housing to the rightward end of the housing 10. As soon asthe rollers 32 and 38 on each panel 28 strike the abutments 27 and 35,respectively, at the rightward ends of the rails 24 and 33,respectively, the panel 28 will be stopped and the continuing movementof the endless element 52 will disengage the magnetized member 64 fromthe magnet 66, thereby leaving the panel 28 in the display position.

The magnetized member 64 (FIGURE 3) will then be moved around theadjacent pulleys 44 and 49 (FIG URE 5) and thence past the magnet 67secured to the panel 28 near the bottom edge thereof. However, since thepolarity of the magnet 67 is arranged to repel the magnetized member 64,said magnetized member 64 will pass beneath each magnet 67 withoutmoving the panel 28 out of its display position.

The magnetized member 65, which has the opposite polarity of themagnetized member 64, is spaced a selected distance behind themagnetized member 64 in the direction of their movement around thepulleys. When the magnetized member 65 moves past a magnet 66, the panel26 to which the magnet 66 is attached will normally be in its displayposition. Thus, a frictional engagement between the magnetized member 65and the magnet 66 will have no material effect. However, when themagnetized member 65 has moved around the pulleys 44 and 49 and reachesthe magnet 67 on the bottom of the panel 280:, said member 65 will beattracted to the magnet 67 and will thereby move the panel 28 back intoits leftward position within the housing 10.

When the panel 28 reaches the point where its rollers 31 and 37 engagethe abutments 26 and 34, respectively, the continued movement of theelement 52 will disengage the magnetized member 65 from the magnet 67,and the panel 28 will remain in its leftward position. Thus, it will 'beseen that the magnetized member 64 will engage the magnet 66 on eachpanel 28 to move the panel 28 rightwardly into the display position, andthe magnetized member 65 will engage the magnet 67 on each panel 23 andthereby move said panel out of the display position.

By appropriate spacing between the magnetized members 64 and 65 alongthe endless element 52, movement of each panel 28 into and out of thedisplay position can be effected so that only one panel at a time is inthe display position. On the other hand, the spacing between themagnetized members 64 and 65 can be such that a given panel 28 is notremoved from its display position until the next adjacent panel 28 ismoved into the display position,

Alternate construction The card display apparatus disclosed in FIGURES10 through 13, inclusive, is equipped with an alternate mechanism foreffecting engagement and disengagement between the elongated endlesselement 71 and the panels 72. The structure supporting the panels 72 formovement lengthwise of the housing 73 also differs from that disclosedin FIGURES 2 and 3. However, the housing 73 may be substantiallyidentical with the housing ltl of FIGURES 1 and 2.

A plurality of channel-shaped and substantially parallel, upper rails 74are supported upon bars 75, which are secured to and extend between theend walls 81 and 83 of the housing 73 adjacent the top wall 76. Oneflange 77 on each rail 74 is secured to one of the bars 75, and theother flange 78 is of relatively short extent. The web 79 (FIGURE 13) ofeach upper rail 74 has a downwardly extending end portion 82 adjacentthe leftward end wall 83 for reasons appearing hereinafter. Each panel72 has two or more rollers 34, which are pivotally secured by axles 86to said panel near the opposite ends of its upper edge. The rollers 84engage the web 79 to support the attached panel 72 in a substantiallyvertical position.

An L-shaped lever 87 is pivotally supported at the junction of its legs88 and 89 by a pivot pin 92 upon each panel 72 near the upper andleftward corner thereof (FIG- URE 11). The horizontal leg 89 has aroller 93 pivotally mounted thereon by an axle 94. The lever 87 androller 93 thereon are arranged and constructed so that the roller 93engages and is movable along the web 79 when the vertical leg 38 is in asubstantially upright position. However, the lever 87 is also located sothat the roller 93 moves beyond the end of the web 79 and down the endportion $2 therof, just before the panel 72 reaches it leftwardmostposition within the housing 73. When the roller 93 drops off the end ofthe web 79, the lever 87 can pivot downwardly into its broken lineposition 87a, whereby the vertical leg 88 is moved into a substantiallyhorizontal position.

A plurality of channel-shaped, substantially parallel lower rails 96 aresupported upon the bottom wall 97 of the housing 73 by support brackets98. Each lower rail 96 has upwardly projecting flanges 161 and 192 and aweb 103. A plurality of rollers 194 are pivotally supported by axles 106upon each panel 72 near the opposite ends of the lower edge thereof forengagement with the webs 103 of the lower rails 96 to assist in thesupport of the panels 72. An L-shaped lever 107 having legs 108 and 109is pivotally supported at the junction of its legs by a pivot pin 112upon each panel 72 near the lower rightward corner thereof (FIGURE 11).A roller 113 is rotatably supported upon the leg 109 for engagement withthe web 103 whereby the leg 1118 is held in a substantially verticalposition. However, when a panel 72 is moved into the rightward ordisplay position within the housing 73, the roller 113 will drop off theend of the web 103 and thereby permit the lever 197 to pivot downwardlyso that the leg 1655 is in a substantially horizontal position. Theroller 113 will now be adjacent the downwardly extending, end portion111 of the web 1113.

A plurality of pulleys, such as the pulleys 114 and 115 shown in FIGURES10 and 11, are supported by shafts, such as the shafts 117 and 118,which are mounted upon and between the front wall 119 and rear wall 126of the housing 73 adjacent the end wall 83. In this particularembodiment, the pulleys 115 are rotatably supported upon the shaft 113whereas the pulleys 114 are secured to and rotate with the shaft 117,which is rotatably supported within the bearings 123 mounted upon thefront and rear walls. A motor 124 is connected, either directly orthrough drive means, to the upper shaft 117 for rotating the pulleys 114mounted thereon. The shaft 118 is preferably located directly below theshaft 117, and the pulleys 115 are axially offset with respect to thepulleys 114.

The endless element 71 extends around the pulleys 114 and 115, andaround corresponding pulleys at the other end of the housing 73, to forma plurality of similar loops defining substantially parallel andvertical planes. The endless element 71 has a span 126 at the leftwardend of the housing 73 whereby the endless element moves from the rearupper pulley 1114s to the front lower pulley 115a. A pair of guidemembers 127 and 128, which are mounted upon the walls 119 and 120,respectively, engage the span 126 of element 71 near the upper and lowerends of the span to facilitate the movement of the element 71 away fromthe upper pulley 114a and onto the lower pulley 115a (FIGURE 10).

The endless element 71 has a pair of crossbars 129 and 136 firmlysecured thereto and extending sidewardly therefrom. The crossbars arearranged so that they preferably project from one side of the element 71to engage one or the other of the upper and lower L-shaped levers 87 and167. That is, one of the crossbars 129 is engageable with all of theL-shaped levers 87 and the other crossbar 130 is engageable with all ofthe L-shaped levers 107. By appropriately spacing of the crossbars 130and 129 along the endless element 71, movement of the element around thepulleys 114 and 115 effects the engagement of the crossbar 129 with theL-shaped levers 87, whereby the panels 72 are moved toward one end ofthe housing 73. The subsequent engagement of the L-shaped levers 107 bythe crossbar 130 moves said panels to the other end of the housing 73.

Just before each panel 72 reaches one end or the other of the housing73, the L-shaped lever (87 or 107) being engaged by a crossbar (130 or129) will pivot downwardly in the direction of movement as itsassociated roller (93 or 113) drops over the end of the associated web(79 or 103). This permits the crossbars 130 and 129 to become disengagedfrom the L-shaped levers 87 and 107, respectively, without stopping themovement of the endless elements 71, when the panels reach one end orthe other of their supporting rails 74 and 96. Thus, by rotating themotor 124 at a selected speed and by locating the Crossbars 130 and 129in the proper positions with respect to each other, the movement of thepanels 72 in response to endwise movement of the element 71 can beeffected in a variety of patterns, as discussed above with respect tothe apparatus disclosed in FIGURES 1, 2 and 3.

Although particular preferred embodiments of the invention have beendescribed above in detail for illustrative purposes, it will berecognized that variations or modifications of such disclosure, whichcome within the scope of the appended claims, are fully contemplated.

What is claimed is:

1. An apparatus for reciprocating a plurality of substantially parallelpanels along adjacent paths parallel with said panels into and out of adisplay zone from a storage zone, said panels having ends extending inthe direction of said parallel paths and connecting sides extendingtransversely of said paths, comprising;

a frame structure;

a plurality of rail means substantially parallel with said paths andsecured to said frame structure, said rail means extending from saidstorage zone into said display zone;

support means connected to each panel supporting said panel upon one ofsaid rail means for movement lengthwise thereof;

an elongated, flexible and endless element;

means on said frame structure guiding and supporting said element oflengthwise movement thereof with said element forming a plurality ofadjacent spiral loops, axially aligned, each loop having spaced firstand second reaches and substantially defining a plane parallel with andadjacent to one of said panels and extending substantially through saidstorage and display zones, said first reach being adjacent one of saidends of an associated panel and said second reach being adjacent theother end of said associated panel,

said means further guiding said endless element from the last of saidspiral loops back to the first of said spiral loops;

drive means connected to said element for effecting said lengthwisemovement of said element in said guide means, said first and secondreaches being moved in opposite directions;

first and second engageable means on each panel adjacent said first andsecond reaches, respectively; and

a pair of spaced, releasable engaging means on said element foreffecting releasable connections with said engageable means, one of saidengaging means being connectible only with the first engageable meansfor moving respective panels into viewing positions and the otherengaging means being connectible only with the second engageable meansto return said respective panel to said storage zone in response to aunidirectional movement of said endless element.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said frame structure is arectangular housing having a pair of side walls substantially parallelwith and on opposite sides of said panels, each side wall having awindow therein adjacent one end of said housing and on opposite sides ofsaid display zone, said first and second reaches being near the spaced,opposed edges of said windows.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said engaging means include a pairof members secured to, and extending sidewardly in opposite directionsfrom, said element, and said engageable means include a pair of L-shapedlevers pivotally supported near its apex and upon each panel adjacentsaid first and second reaches, each lever having a first leg with rollermeans rotatably supported thereon and engageable with said adjacent railmeans, and having a second leg movable with said lever into and out of aposition of engagement with a said member on said element when saidroller means is in engagement with said adjacent rail means, said rollermeans being movable with said panel beyond a position of engagement withsaid rail means, whereby said second leg moves out of said position forengagement by said member.

4. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein each engageable means includes afirst magnetized member and each engaging means includes a secondmagnetized member, said first magnetized members being arranged and saidreaches being located so that each of said second magnetized members isattracted into engagement with only one of said first magnetized memberson each panel.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,001,424 5/1935Huggett 40-32 2,131,168 9/1938 Eitzen 40-36 2,609,915 9/1952 De Burgh198--41 2,995,846 8/1961 Swank 4036 3,016,640 1/1962 Swank 4036 JEROMESCHNALL, Primary Examiner.

1. AN APPARATUS FOR RECIPROCATING A PLURALITY OF SUBSTANTIALLY PARALLELPANELS ALONG ADJACENT PATHS PARALLEL WITH SAID PANELS INTO AND OUT OF ADISPLAY ZONE FROM A STORAGE ZONE, SAID PANELS HAVING ENDS EXTENDING INTHE DIRECTION OF SAID PARALLEL PATHS AND CONNECTING SIDES EXTENDINGTRANSVERSELY OF SAID PATHS, COMPRISING; A FRAME STRUCTURE; A PLURALITYOF RAIL MEANS SUBSTANTIALLY PARALLEL WITH SAID PATHS AND SECURED TO SAIDFRAME STRUCTURE, SAID RAIL MEANS EXTENDING FROM SAID STORAGE ZONE INTOSAID DISPLAY ZONE; SUPPORT MEANS CONNECTED TO EACH PANEL SUPPORTING SAIDPANEL UPON ONE OF SAID RAIL MEANS FOR MOVEMENT LENGTHWISE THEREOF; ANELONGATED, FLEXIBLE AND ENDLESS ELEMENT; MEANS ON SAID FRAME STRUCTUREGUIDING AND SUPPORTING SAID ELEMENT OF LENGTHWISE MOVEMENT THEREOF WITHSAID ELEMENT FORMING A PLURALITY OF ADJACENT SPIRAL LOOPS, AXIALLYALIGNED, EACH LOOP HAVING SPACED FIRST AND SECOND REACHES ANDSUBSTANTIALLY DEFINING A PLANE PARALLEL WITH AND ADJACENT TO ONE OF SAIDPANELS AND EXTENDING SUBSTANTIALLY THROUGH SAID STORAGE AND DISPLAYZONES, SAID FIRST REACH BEING ADJACENT ONE OF SAID ENDS OF AN ASSOCIATEDPANEL AND SAID SECOND REACH BEING ADJACENT THE OTHER END OF SAIDASSOCIATED PANEL, SAID MEANS FURTHER GUIDING SAID ENDLESS ELEMENT FROMTHE LAST OF SAID SPIRAL LOOPS BECK TO THE FIRST OF SAID SPIRAL LOOPS;